Franz Forrawyn
"Witchcraft claims the unwary or the incomplete. A true man may flinch away its embrace, if he is stalwart, and he girds his soul with the armour of contempt. The nature of witchcraft is deceit - unless one looks past surface impressions, one can never hope to divine the purpose of the enemy." -Franz Forrawyn History Franz Forrawyn was born over two centuries ago, before the great mage war turned the north into a frozen hell. He saw the horrors of the war firsthand, fighting on the front lines and witnessing the devastation of the land. After the war, he rallied an army of like-minded warriors, the Hexenjägers - Witchunters - dedicated to hunting down and eradicating all mages in the north. As Fuhrer of the Reich Nördlich, Franz Forrawyn had a warlike relationship with his neighbors, Jotunheim and Nadezhda. With Jotunheim, it is a matter of fending off the Frost Giants and their raids, but against Nadezhda, their conflict comes from Forrawyn’s loathing of their policy of enslaving mages. He saw his fears confirmed when Abi Eodauga overthrew Marshal Rurik and give his mages free reign. Though he did ally with Marshal Eodauga during the war against the demigod of winter, he still hates him and seeks to bring him down. Franz Forrawyn was shortly married to an unnamed human woman who birthed him a daughter named Reise. He does not ever speak of Reise’s mother, though he appears to be grooming the girl as his heir. He pursues an alliance with Queen Mercy of Guilddon, but shuns most other nations, believing their rulers to be mages, fools, and worse. Personality Franz Forrawyn’s psyche and outlook was formed by the disastrous Northern Mage Wars, which he fought in. He lost many loved ones during that time, and was believed to have had a human wife that he never truly forgot. Those close to him believe that he sees echoes of his slain wife in Reise Forrawyn’s unnamed mother, and in Queen Mercy of Guilddon. In addition to believing that magic is a destructive and all-consuming force, he believes that it warps the minds of its practitioners, who he sees as trying to play god. He is horrified by the Nadezhdan practice to enslaving mages, seeing it as a powder keg waiting to explode. The overthrow of Marshal Rurik and the rise of Abi Eodauga are merely his worst fears come true. Franz Forrawyn knows that his people suffer, but he does not see himself as a king in any traditional sense. Rather, he sees himself primarily as the Commander of the Hexenjägers; as a bulwark against the menace of sorcery. In this sense, he considers himself his people’s protector, not their overlord, and therefore absolves himself of responsibility for their well-being. War of the Philosopher-Kings A reluctant ally of Abi Eodauga, Franz Forrawyn made a marriage pact with Queen Mercy of Guilddon, in which their nations would unify to destroy the northern alliance. The two would eagerly align themselves with World's End, with the understanding that their goal would be the overthrow of Abi Eodauga and peace in the north. Upon the initiation of hostilities, Forrawyn would lead a contingent of soldiers and Hexenjägers to harry the Nadezhdan flanks and supply lines. Upon the full invasion of Nadezhda, Forrawyn and his men would lead the advance, being the most comfortable with winter warfare and with dealing with the enemy mages. During the final battle at Veragrad, Franz Forrawyn and his Hexenjägers would cut a bloody path through Nadezhda's slave mages, and Forrawyn would claim Eodauga's life in a climatic duel. He would go on to take the master collar, and use it to kill every Nadezhdan mage. Franz Forrawyn would take charge of the northern forces following Atlantis' attack of Guilddon, and declare his intentions to bring down the northern Final Empire and end the reign of Twin-Emperor Brennan. Emperor Arthur would retreat to defend World's End from the Atlantean forces, and the troops from Guilddon, led by Guildmaster Orval Royce, would mutiny, forcing Forrawyn's men to crush their rebellion. The troops from the Reich, having taken incalculable losses, would make their way to Xolotl, where they would find themselves against insurmountable odds. Eschewing conventional sense, Forrawyn would leave the majority of his troops in reserve, and lead his Hexenjägers in a suicidal attack on the dome. They would cut a swath through everything in their path, confronting Emperor Brennan, who would call their bluff, and immolate himself upon the throne, killing Franz Forrawyn and the remaining Hexenjägers in one stroke. In this, each leader would have claimed a partial victory. Emperor Brennan would save the throne from destruction, preserved his research, and annihilated the world's most lethal mage-killing order. In his death, Franz Forrawyn would secure the goal he had never achieved in life - a peaceful, unified north, free of mages, and ruled by his daughter. In this, his legacy would be cemented. Category:Monarchs Category:Reich Nördlich Category:Elves Category:Characters Category:Snowball Earth Category:Dead